A U.S. District Judge has ruled that Illinois’ ban prohibiting concealed carry for self-defense on public transportation violates the Second Amendment, stating that it does not fall within the framework set by Bruen (2022. In his opinion in Schoenthal v. Raoul, Judge Ian D. Johnston noted that openly carrying firearms is unlawful in Illinois, but individuals with a concealed-carry license may generally carry a concealed handgun in public, except for certain prohibited areas, including public transportation.
The plaintiffs, Benjamin Schoenthal, Mark Wroblewski, Joseph Vesel, and Douglas Winston, claimed that the ban violated their Second Amendment rights. Their case was supported by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Firearms Policy Coalition. Judge Johnston pointed to opinions by Kimberly Foxx, State’s Attorney of Cook County, who argued in support of the ban. However, he noted that her proposed framework contradicts Bruen, which rejects the relevance of place to the threshold question of whether certain conduct is covered by the Second Amendment.
Ultimately, Judge Johnston ruled that “the Firearm Concealed Carry Act’s ban on carrying concealed firearms on public transportation, as defined in the statute…violates the Second Amendment,” as applied to the plaintiffs. Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, commented on the ruling, calling it a “significant victory” in which “the court recognized Cook County Attorney Foxx’s argument that the ban was legal because Illinois is acting as a property owner was ‘breathtaking, jaw dropping and eyepopping,’ and that wasn’t a compliment. It demonstrates how far government will reach in an attempt to justify its effort to restrict Second Amendment rights.